Friday, March 18, 2016

Thursday, March 17, 2016 – Santa Cruz to Vichuquen Marina on the coast of Chile

Today is St.
Patrick's Day, so it is fitting that we started it in the O'Higgins
province of Chile. (We may still be in it, but I am not sure.) It was
our first day with hills. We did about 2400 feet of climbing over the
course of a 52 mile ride from Santa Cruz to the coast. I had
expectations that at some point as we crossed the coastal range we
would be at a high point with majestic views of the Pacific. That
turned out not to be the case – I first saw the ocean when I was
about 200 yards from it. But, what a magnificent sight.

We started out in
light traffic in the city of Santa Cruz on a day that was overcast,
and stayed that way until we were almost finished riding. That was
both good and bad – it was comfortable riding weather (about 60
degrees most of the day), but it did nothing to enhance the scenery
which was rather boring for a good part of the day.

We stopped for a
group picnic at an olive oil processing cooperative near the town of
Lolol, and then continued our March to the sea. It was only in the
last two miles that I observed anything worthy of note. First, were
several salt evaporation ponds where people were processing and
selling salt. Interestingly, many of the road side sands proclaimed
that they were selling salt and quinoa. I don't know what quinoa
looks like when it is growing, but I didn't see anything that looked
like a quinoa field to me. I was later told that they do indeed grow
quite a bit of it here.

The second
interesting thing was the brown llama that was standing in the middle
of the road that I was biking along. After taking his picture, I had
to decide whether I could safely pass him. Deciding that the answer
was yes, I came up alongside him, and he started trotting along next
to me.

It turned out he was
looking for a break in the fence to get back into his pasture, and we
soon parted ways.

Soon after we
arrived at our regrouping point, a small restaurant that serves what
Jata tells us is “the best seafood soup in Chile.” I think he is
telling the truth. There was so much shellfish – scallops, clams,
pala (something new to me) and others that I cannot name – that
there was hardly room for broth. We were right on the water, so I got
a few pictures of the fisherman landing and sorting their catch of
the day.

From there, we
loaded the bikes and climbed in the shuttle for a dusty ride along an
unpaved road to our destination for the evening – the Vichuquen
Marina, a very pleasant lakeside resort. We are about to gather for
dinner, so I will sign off, and post this whenever we get a good WiFi
connection.

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Welcome to Guy's blog

August 2018 -- UPDATEA wonderful cycling trip to Cuba is now history. In less than a month, I will be cycling Venice to Pisa. It promises to be a great trip, with a special bonus. On the day of my arrival in Venice I will see La Traviata in La Felice, the opera house where it premiered.